ZAKA – nominally an emergency rescue group – won praise from Benjamin Netanyahu for playing an important role in influencing public opinion as his government sought international backing during the initial stages of the genocide. Israel’s prime minister repeated claims fabricated by the group that Hamas burned and killed dozens of children on 7 October last year.

European Union diplomats enjoy a warm relationship with ZAKA despite – or perhaps because of – its blatant dishonesty. Dimiter Tzantchev, the EU’s ambassador to Tel Aviv, has contended that the group carries out “hard and holy work.”

Documents obtained under freedom of information rules show that Tzantchev’s team has discussed the possibility that ZAKA could receive EU aid.

In January, a ZAKA representative emailed the EU’s Tel Aviv embassy with a request for information about possible funding. The message – see below – referred to an earlier conversation with the embassy on Zoom.